'Shots fired' at Georgia's president Mikheil Saakashvili

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has accused Russian troops of firing shots as his convoy carried him close to the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

'Shots fired' at Georgia's president Mikheil Saakashvili Photo: GETTY

By Sarah Marcus in Tbilisi

11:35PM GMT 23 Nov 2008

Mr Saakashvili and his Polish counterpart, Lech Kaczynski, were on a tour of the disputed region of Akhalgori, which borders South Ossetia,. Russian troops are still manning a checkpoint on the boundary since a five-day war in August.

A spokesman for the Georgian government said the Russian troops opened fire when the convoy approached, but shaky television pictures were inconclusive. Automatic gunfire could be heard but it was unclear where it was coming from. No one was hurt and the convoy turned back.

"We heard machine-gun volleys about 30 metres from where I was," the Polish PAP news agency quoted Polish President Lech Kaczyinski as saying.

The Georgian president said the alleged attack should serve as a "reminder" to European politicians that "aggressive actions in Georgia are continuing and the EU-Russia agreement has been most brazenly violated".

But both South Ossetian troops and Russian forces in the area denied involvement.